HD and Blu-Ray Titles and New Releases

Factual Questions
1

Is there a website that keeps track of which movie titles have been released in HD and Blu-Ray format?

Also, all of the HD and Blu-Ray discs that I’ve seen for sale so far have been mostly crap titles. Any idea why? I would think that movies that have been beautifully photographed would be prime candidates for the high definition formats. I’m watching “Murder on the Orient Express” right now, and this was a gorgeous film…

Mods, please move if this is better suited for CS.

Thanks!

2

Here’s a list of DVDs in HD format, and you can generally tell by the studio which is Blue-Ray and which is HD DVD.

3

Thanks for the links.

Huh. The BD titles seem to be significantly more crappy than the HD titles.

4

My understanding is that blue-ray as been adopted primarily by Sony, where as the majority of other publishers are picking up HD-DVD, with a few playing both sides. This may explain what titles are going which way.

5

Given that Sony is the creative genius behind the Minidisc, I think it might be wise to avoid getting too attached to Blu-Ray.

6

…and Betamax.

7

…and the Memory Stick.

8

My understanding is that until consumers see which one of these formats is going to emerge as dominant, they’re understandable going to be hesitant to spend $999 on a player, lest they back the wrong horse. Without a player, they’re also not buying the movies in appreciable numbers yet. Studios, anxious to make sales, are therefore forced to put titles out in both formats, a proposition that almost undoubtable is more expensive. Maybe many are just holding off on the good titles until one of the two formats begins to make itself dominant in the market and then suitably formatted titles will follow.